


Only Fools

by Hideous_Sun_Demon



Series: The Start Of The Rest Of Our Lives... [4]
Category: Designated Survivor (TV)
Genre: (Attempted) slow dancing, Elvis - Freeform, F/M, Fluff, just fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-11
Updated: 2018-08-11
Packaged: 2019-06-25 18:34:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15646542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hideous_Sun_Demon/pseuds/Hideous_Sun_Demon
Summary: Kendra loved Trey’s old turntable. She loved him more.





	Only Fools

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MeredithBrody](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeredithBrody/gifts).



> I thought I should take from unrelenting angst. So, here: nerds.

The one thing Kendra liked most about Trey’s apartment was the turntable.

It was one her favourite contradictions about him. Trey was by all accounts a modern man. His clothes were- not fashionable, exactly- but fresh for the season, he listened to the popular charts, he was steeped in today’s popular culture. But there in the living room, taking pride of place, was a vintage record player. Sitting in his sleek, modern apartment, it looked like it had been brought by a time traveller and left there by mistake.

He’d bought it from an antiques sale, he told her the first time she’d come over and he’d caught her eyeing it. He’d been in one of his manic moods- and also, possibly, a little bit high- and he’d been dragged there by one of his rotating girlfriends at the time. All it had taken was one look at the old wooden casing, and he’d ended up with a hole in his wallet and a turntable under his arm, along with a box of dusty vinyls. Trey had only ended up using it one or two times, but even once sober he’d found himself charmed by it, so it had ended up following him all the way to D.C.

Kendra was glad he’d kept it. It reminded her of him. A bit out of use, and in need of some polishing- but under the scratches and chipped wood, really quite breathtaking.

They were over there that night, on one of the rare occasions when they weren’t at Kendra’s place. Trey would say, teasingly, that he liked feeling small in her massive apartment, but Kendra could honestly say she preferred staying at his. Trey was more comfortable in his own space, she could tell, and she enjoyed seeing him with all his defences down; the truest version of himself.

Kendra was stretched out on the couch, shoes off and book in her hands, but she couldn’t focus on any of the words. Her eyes kept drifting to the quiet movement on the other side of the little room. Trey had emerged from his bedroom, footsteps stealthy as he balanced a vinyl record in his hands. He considered the disc with a thoughtful furrow to his brow, tilting it to catch the dim lamplight before nodding in satisfaction. Kendra could feel a smile struggling against her own lips, but she kept her eyes steadfastly fixed on her page, pretending to be absorbed as Trey fiddled with the tonearm.

Kendra didn’t look up at the squeak and scratch of the record beginning to turn. She didn’t look up as the first soothing notes of _Can’t Help Falling In Love_ began to drift through the apartment. It wasn’t until she snuck a glance over and saw her boyfriend leaning against the wall, staring at her expectantly with a goofy look on his face, that she finally dropped the book to her chest.

“What are you doing?” Kendra asked, her grin finally breaking free.

Trey extended his hand with a flourish and a sweeping bow. “May I have this dance?”

Kendra shook her head incredulously, but she she was already up off the couch, drawn in by the crooning crackle of Elvis and the twinkle in her boyfriend’s eye. He was already swaying in time to the music, humming under his breath as he cruised towards her.

“It just occurred to me,” he said, dropping a kiss to her hand as he took it in his, “that you have never seen me dance before. And that is a crime. I’m incredible.”

“Oh really?” Kendra laughed, gently guiding his hands so they rested on her hips and not awkwardly about her waist. Trey grinning bashfully, tightening his grip as they started to sway on the spot.

“Maybe I’m a little out of practice. But you should have seen me tearing up the dance floor with Cassie Baldwin at my senior prom.”

“Mm, Cassie Baldwin,” Kendra murmured, smoothing her hands over his biceps as she drew her arms up to wrap about his neck. “Was she as charmed as I am?”

Trey coughed out a laugh. “Not exactly. If I remember correctly, my braces got caught on her lip when I tried to kiss her and she ended up bleeding all over her dress.”

Kendra burst out into helpless giggles, muffling them in the fabric of his shirt. “Oh god.”

“Yeah, it was _not_ magical.”

The song drifted into its second verse, and Kendra, feeling a bit adventurous, started leading them in a lazy circle. She was grateful that Trey was enough of a man that he didn’t feel embarrassing by her taking the reigns, because one of them was obviously going to have to- and for safety’s sake, she thought it better be her. Kendra was the first to admit that she had two left feet when it came to dancing, but Trey was absolutely _hopeless_.

She bit off a squeak as her toes got squashed under his- thankfully- socked feet.

“I’m no expert, but I’m pretty sure in this dance you’re actually supposed to avoid stepping on each other’s feet,” she said, smirking.

“Are you kidding me?” Trey gasped in mock offence. “That’s my signature move! Guaranteed to make every woman in a ten mile radius swoon. Granted, they’re swooning so they don’t have to dance with me, but still.”

“Well, at least you haven’t made me bleed yet.”

“Oh, we’re only one song in. Give me some time.”

Kendra laced her fingers around the back of his neck, tangling them in his hair as she gazed up into his eyes. They were a soft, restful blue. If Kendra was feeling particularly poetic, she would call them blue skies, the lapping seas on a summer day; the type of eyes you wanted to get lost in. All poetry flew out of her head, however, as those eyes started watering with pain. She had steered them too close to the coffee table, and Trey had smacked his shin against the glass top.

“Sorry,” she gasped out, still giggling a little despite herself. Trey tried to pout, but she could see a smile twitching at his lips, and soon they both dissolved into fits of laughter, pulling each other closer. Kendra nestled her head against Trey’s chest, letting her eyes slip closed as she breathed in his scent. He smelled of sandalwood and fabric softener.

Elvis was still playing. Kendra sighed. “I love this song,” she mumbled into his shirt.

“I know,” Trey replied softly. He rested his chin on top of her head, and she felt the soothing rumble of his chest against her cheek as he began to sing along.

“Take my hand, take my whole life too. For I can’t help falling in love with you...”

Trey was as tone-deaf as he was earnest, but it didn’t matter. He was only singing for Kendra, and she didn’t think there was anyone better.

“You’re so cheesy,” she said.

Trey paused for a moment in his singing to press a kiss to the crown of her head. “Well, I like cheesy,” he replied. “And I like how you pretend you don’t, even though I know you’re loving this.”

“You’re a dork,” she said simply. Trey just smiled.

This was hardly a State Dinner, Kendra thought smilingly as they rocked to and fro. Not with them in Trey’s cramped living room, bumping into coffee tables. But, she reflected as she toyed with his collar, she would take this moment just as it was over any black tie event. Because Trey in flannel and jeans, with his sleeves rolled up and holes in his socks, was a hundred times more _himself_ than Trey in a tux ever was. This was the man she had fallen in love with.

The last chords of the songs petered into nothing, but Trey kept on singing, words turning into tuneless mumbles in her ear. Those were the only sounds in the apartment; Trey’s humming, their mingled breathing, and his heartbeat, thudding steady against Kendra’s cheek.

**Author's Note:**

> i love them


End file.
